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Watford 1-4 Huddersfield Town: Match Report

By on May 3, 2014

Watford lost their final game of the season 4-1 to Huddersfield due to a hat-trick from Danny Ward and the opener from Joe Lolley. Troy Deeney converted a last minute penalty to salvage some pride for the home team but it was too little and far too late.

Due to my late comings I arrived at Vicarage Road five minutes after the first whistle. Upon my arrival the atmosphere seemed subdued which was peculiar to say the least because of the normally great work done throughout the season by the 1881 movement. Perhaps that’s just because the Hornets never really got out of first gear, although neither did Huddersfield in truth. In fact that most exciting aspect of the first-half could have been Harry the Hornet’s antics on the touchline – the away fans weren’t too happy with the mascot stealing one of their beach balls.

However, the second 45 got off to a flying start for the Terriers, and it took Joe Lolley just 30 seconds to break the deadlock. The striker was making his full debut after joining from non-league side Kidderminster in January following an impressive goal scoring run with the side, but his FA Cup heroics caught the eye of bigger clubs.

Fans may remember Jack Bonham’s final day mistakes on the last day of the previous season, mistakes that would ultimately cost Watford promotion to the Premier League. It wasn’t quite on the same scale, but another goalkeeper was at fault this time around for Huddersfield’s second. Substitute Danny Ward bagged his first of the game when his shot was parried by Jonathan Bond and eventually the ball squirmed under his body and over the line.

Ward added a third in the 65th minute, before he completed his hat-trick when he curled a free-kick round the wall and into the back of the net. 4-0 to Huddersfield and Watford had still not woken up.

Yet at least Faraoni and Diakite, who has had a tough time with the fans since joining on loan from QPR, did well when coming on. Only a horrific refereeing decision followed the fourth goal of the afternoon. The home side thought they had grabbed a consolation goal when the ball looked to have been scrambled over the line but the referee disallowed the goal and pointed to his linesman. His assistant’s flags was not raised and looked perplexed as to why the foul was given, bu this resorted only to a disappointing drop ball inside the box but nothing came of it.

In an obvious attempt to redeem himself to the 15,000 fans, though, David Coote awarded a penalty and Watford’s top scorer Deeney converted. This result means Huddersfield finished in 17th position while Watford had to settle for 13th place, 10 lower than the last campaign.

Not many stayed for the player’s lap of honor in the sunshine as it has been disappointing for the fans of the Hertfordshire based outfit. Not just for today’s result but for the season as a whole.

About Conor de Smith

Aspiring sports journalist. Editor for VAVEL and writer for Football Every Day.